PICTURED ABOVE: Reed Bartley scored Wheaton's second-half goal on Saturday at Elmhurst.
Elmhurst, Ill. – The Elmhurst College men's soccer team (3-6-1, 1-0-0 CCIW) capitalized on an opportunity in the second overtime to defeat the
#22-ranked Thunder men's soccer team on Saturday afternoon in the CCIW opener for both teams.
The Bluejays registered the game-winning goal midway through the second overtime as a lofting cross by Elmhurst's Jeff Kading slipped past the Wheaton defense and to the foot of Alec Gnass who deftly put the ball into the net for the game-winner at the 104:32 mark of the match. Gnass' goal was Elmhurst's only shot attempt of either overtime period.
The game went to overtime because Wheaton's
Reed Bartley scored in the 79
th minute to tie the contest at 1-1. Wheaton All-American
Marshall Hollingsworth lofted a free kick in front of the goal and after the ball was headed the loose ball was collected by
Noah Gulley who advanced the ball to Bartley and the junior headed the ball past Elmhurst netminder Nick King at the 78:06 mark of the match to tie the contest at 1-1.
Gnass gave the Bluejays a 1-0 lead at 26:32 into the match when he scored off of a Sam Johnson assist. Johnson moved through the Thunder defense and passed the ball off to Gnass for the first score of the night. Gnass' goal was the third and final shot attempt by the Bluejays in the first half; all three shot attempts by Elmhurst in the opening half were by Gnass.
Wheaton was unable to take advantage of a 20-8 advantage in shots in game, including a 12-3 edge in the first half. Wheaton owned a 7-4 edge in shots on goal in the match.
Thunder goalkeeper
Matt Paprocki made two saves and allowed two goals in 105 minutes of work in the Wheaton net. King stopped five Wheaton shots from reaching the Elmhurst net and he allowed Bartley's second-half goal.
Wheaton is now 6-3-1 for the season and 0-1-0 in CCIW play. The Thunder will travel to UW-Oshkosh on October 7 for a road matchup with the Titans.
